The present invention relates to a newspaper vending means.
At present newspapers can be purchased from various outlets such as retail establishments, newspaper vendors and vending machines. Regular deliveries need to be made to these outlets to keep them stocked with the latest issue of the newspaper. Even with regular deliveries, newspapers purchased from present outlets are to some extent out of date and may not contain, for example, the latest share prices, results of sporting events or the latest poll results of elections as they happen.
Of course newspaper vending machines, where the customer inserts his coins and then takes out a newspaper, are well known.
It is also known that terminals exist where users can access information and have it printed out where the terminal would have some form of electronic control means. Japanese Patent Application (Publication Number: 0711 5474A) describes a system, where more details on a news story can be received. A newspaper is purchased in the normal way. By each story on the newspaper there is a unique bar code. If the reader of the newspaper requires more information on a story, he needs to take the newspaper to a terminal with a bar code reader. The bar code is then read and the terminal displays details of that story in a multimedia format.